


The Mine

by ntldr



Series: The SARMA universe [1]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: youngling Hot Rod
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-05 09:49:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6700060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ntldr/pseuds/ntldr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sunstreaker is the narcissistic sociopath that we all know and love, and Hot Rod is too young and too far removed from regular society to act like a normal Cybertronian. How is a soldier supposed to mentor a youngling in the middle of a war, light years away from anything familiar?</p>
<p>Set in the SARMA comic series by greenapplefreak of deviantArt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mine

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [SARMA universe](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/193687) by greenapplefreak. 



_((AN: Before you read, head over to greenapplefreak's page on deviantArt and familiarize yourself with her comics about Sunstreaker and Hot Rod.  The established universe will be difficult to understand without them.))_

“Ow...”

“Easy, buddy, easy.”

A powerful, blazing light shone brightly next to his own, nearly overwhelming and overpowering him.  Yet somehow it was soothing, naturally drawing him in, surrounding him and cradling him, lending him strength. 

He felt as if he were under the day's highest sun, his panels tingling as he basked in light and warmth, waking him and drawing him up from the depressive cold that was each night without fuel.  His spark glowed, matching the pulse frequency, further seeking out the source of the light.

Hot Rod's fingertips rattled on the table before a shaking hand lifted up, trying to reach out for the other spark that his optics couldn't see.

A bigger hand grabbed his wrist and forced it back down.

“Let me work.”

The abrupt tone shocked him, even though it shouldn't.  He knew Sunstreaker better than that by now.  Yet his spark _demanded_ the security of the bigger spark by his side.  He tried again.

“Hot Rod!”

His wrist was held once more, stopping him.  Then, after a hesitation, his hand was moved, placing his fingers and palms against another's plating.

The metal was warm, though not as warm as the noon sun.  It was familiar, even for knowing the other mech for a relatively short time.  He reached further, but the plating stopped him from touching the other's spark.

Yet his own was satisfied.  He was close.

He was safe.

Hot Rod's audials crackled as Sunstreaker blew air out of his vents in a sigh, wafting over the smaller mech's frame as he worked on repairing the torn energon lines and blown circuitry. 

“You'll be fine,” he murmured down at him, his voice quieter, losing a bit of his edge, though it came right back.  “Last time I let you try to do maintenance on a rifle alone.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Hot Rod winced a little as the weld lines on his plates were pulled, but that didn't stop the youngling from stretching up to see out the window over the console.  The abyss of space stretched out before them, dotted with billions of stars, clusters and the arms of galaxy, interrupted by a brownish orb hovering in front of them, its top and bottom iced over, the rest scarred with the dark lines of mountains and crevices.

“Is it burned?”

“What?”  Sunstreaker didn't bother looking up from the console in front of the commander's chair, sitting one tier above Hot Rod.  Besides the Autobot and youngling, the bridge of the cargo ship was empty, as was the rest of the vessel.  Thankfully it only took one of them to pilot the ship when it was doing little besides being a commandeered transport.  Sunstreaker's hands flew over the console, and a map of the landing site was displayed on another screen nearby.  

“The planet.  Why's it brown like that?”

“Not all planets have flora on them. In fact, most don't.”

Sitting on his knees in his chair to better see his own console, Hot Rod's typing was slower and more deliberate.  “How come?”

Sunstreaker grimaced. “I don't have time for this.”

“How come?” Hot Rod repeated.

The Autobot delayed in answering him, hoping that he could stall long enough for the youngling to focus his attention on something else, but when Hot Rod turned in his seat to ask him a third time, he relented with a huff through his vents.  “Flora develops naturally over thousands of vorns, if the planet develops the right conditions. Usually they need at least an atmosphere and source of energy.”

“So how come there's no flora here?”

“I don't know.  Maybe the planet hasn't developed far enough.  Maybe it already has, but something crippled it's ecosystem and everything died out.”

“...An entire planet can die?”

Sunstreaker's optics snapped up and stared at Hot Rod's horrified face. “It happens. It's natural.” Still, the youngling looked beyond disturbed, and the Autobot vented a huff of air as he returned his attention to studying the landing site map, as much as he could while swearing at himself in his own mind.  “...Don't think about it too much, okay?”

“Does that mean that the entire planet is _haunted?”_

He buried his face into his palm.  “Oh, here we go...”

“Does the planet turn into one giant ghost?”  Hot Rod turned around in his chair and sat up higher on his knees to rest his elbows on it's top, his fists squeezed together excitedly.  “Does it go around haunting the other planets?”

“Planets don't do that.”

“Does it try to haunt anyone who lands on it?”

“It wouldn't care.”

“Does it become all creepy and eerie,” Hot Rod wiggled his fingers in front of him, “and the edges of its cliffs become jaws, and the rivers turn into acid?”

“Primus.”

“Does it try to lure in hapless travelers, thinking that they won't encounter anything on a dead planet, and then try to gobble them up--”

“Hot Rod!” Sunstreaker spread his hands, his optics bulging slightly from their fixtures.  “I'm trying to plot the best way for us not to land and get the energon we need and not be killed by Decepticons!”

“...But can it--”

“No!!”

Hot Rod slipped back down.  “Aww...”

“A smarter mech than me would be disturbed that you can come up with slag like that on the fly!”  Sunstreaker shook his head before returning his attention to the map.  A few more taps at his console, and it was re-displayed as a hologram in the space between the two mechs' tiers.  Hot Rod sat up again, and studied it, his blue optics whirring as he focused on different objects and points of interest.

“...There's only two landing pads and one building?  Where's the mine?”

“The one building,” Sunstreaker highlighted it in purple, “is the entrance to the mine.  This ship doesn't have much data of the mine itself.”

“So the only way in will be the path that is known, probably guarded, and we won't have a map?”

“Sounds like fun, doesn't it?”

“...You're not really going to--”

“If you weren't with me, maybe I would,” Sunstreaker replied honestly. “It would be the fastest route.  But what this ship lacks in mine data, it makes up for in notes on the planet's topography, in case the ship ever had to make an emergency landing.”

The map zoomed out, the mine entrance now only taking up a small portion of the side of a hill.  The surrounding area was dotted with more rocky hills, dotted by boulders, and the odd hole suddenly appearing in some of the valleys.

“What are those?”

“Spots where the roofs of caves fell in.  Looks like this area used to be a hotspot of volcanic activity, and left caves and tunnels behind where the magma used to flow.  Probably why so much energon was pulled up to the surface layers too.”

A few more clicks, and red circle was drawn next to one of the holes, out of sight of the mine entrance, but close enough that a mech could hike from one spot to another in only a quarter-cycle.

“We'll land here, and work our way into the mine through the tunnels.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Unlike the guarded entrance, which could be assumed to slope down through the hill, the hole in a cave's roof was a straight drop into a tunnel.  Sunstreaker knelt at the edge, wary of the crumbling dirt cliff not far from his foot.  The planet seemed to be covered with a layer of fine dust, giving everything a horrible brown haze, blotting out the sky into orange glow, and sneaking into the crevices between his armor plates.  He'd snarled at it the moment he'd stepped out of the ship, wanting nothing more than to rush right back in the airlock and wash it off.

Hot Rod wasn't much better, though his problem lay with his systems not cleaning the dust out of his filters quickly enough.  The youngling had to keep his fans powered on to blast the dirt off of him and keep himself from suffocating, but the noise would not go unnoticed by a Decepticon patrol.  Sunstreaker glanced to the left at said youngling, who was crawling up to the hole, even more cautious than the taller mech about tumbling in.  Sunstreaker might land on his feet with only a little damage, but the smaller Hot Rod risked breaking something vital.

The wind howled at their backs, threatening to toss them over the side and into the cavern.  The Autobot briefly reached over and gripped one of Hot Rod's protrusions, thinking that he might be blown away, though he was ignored as the youngling studied what little light could breach the cave below them.

“How're we going to climb out when we're done?”

Sunstreaker reached down and gripped a rock sitting nearby, judging how well he could grasp a handhold onto one of the walls and pull himself back out if he had to.  It crumbled like sand in his hand, and blew away.  Another gust pushed at them, and the sky grew darker.

“We won't.  This top layer is barely holding itself together.”  He rested an arm on his knee and stroked his chin as he thought. “The lower layers are probably cooled magma.  They're tougher, and they're what's keeping these caves from collapsing.  The hill the entrance is in probably used to be a volcano; the mine follows the magma tunnel down to the energon.”

“So the only way out...”

“Was that entrance back there.” Sunstreaker turned to Hot Rod. “Sorry, kid.  You'll be sitting this one out.”

“What about being your back-up?!” Hot Rod protested.

“You can stay in the ship, out of this dust storm, and have the ship prepped to leave in case things go poorly.”

“I can take a sniping position on top of one of the other hills, and cover you as you come out.”

“Kid, if I'm being chased by Decepticons, I'd REALLY like to take off without waiting for you to come charging down a hill. Besides,” he reached over and rubbed Hot Rod's head, near where one of the fans was making a racket, “this dust isn't doing either of us any favors.”

“I'll be fine.”

“So will I.  Go back to the ship, prep it, and wait for me.”

Before Hot Rod could argue further, Sunstreaker vaulted over the edge.  The walls of the cave slopped down just enough that he could slide down partially on his heels, then jump the rest of the way.  Instantly the headlights on his chest clicked on, illuminating the area in front of him as he scrambled down to the cave floor.

The tunnel beside him was wide, though not tall. It was barely high enough to keep from scrapping his head when walking upright, and if he stretched his arms, it would take six of him to reach from one wall to the other.  The sand and dust that had fallen down here collected in the center of the floor, but the tunnel itself contained little of it.  His guess had been right; jagged, layered black rock held the structure of the cave, less likely to suddenly collapse on him than the brown soil, though he wasn't going to test that theory.

The cavern grew brighter as Sunstreaker powered up one of his guns, his hand transforming into the end of a blaster, his other hand holding his wrist to keep it level.  He kept it trailed on the tunnel, wary for Decepticons who might have heard Hot Rod and him talking, or worse, somehow detected the cargo ship as it descended through the hazy atmosphere.

“Sunstreaker!”

Sunstreaker raised his free hand.  “I said go back to the--”

“Heads up!”

He raised his optics just in time to see a rifle tumbling towards him, aimed at his head. He caught it before it could touch his headfins, stared at it, then grimaced as he heard scuffling on the ledge above.

He dropped it, re-transformed his hand, and, with a look of tired resignation, held out his arms for the red, orange and yellow blur already plummeting from above.

“EEEEEEEE!!”

The youngling bounced on his chestplate before tumbling into his grasp, causing him to grunt at the sudden weight, and for an astrosecond he wondered what would have happened if he hadn't become wise to Hot Rod's lack of self-preservation instincts. Readjusting to grip the smaller mech under his arms, Sunstreaker dangled him at his optic level and glared at him, to which Hot Rod smirked in return.

“Don't scratch my paint,” he growled.  “And what's to stop me from tossing you back up?”

“The fact that I'll jump down again?”

He wanted to drop him, but a more righteous part of his spark reminded him that no one ever drops a sparkling or youngling if it could be helped.  Not to say that he didn't put him down hard, enough to make Hot Rod stumble.  The rifle was shoved back into his hands.

“C'mon,” he growled, his headlights beaming into the tunnel as he stepped forward. “And for Primus's sake, don't wander off.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

“I can't believe he wandered off.  That idiotic, spark-fritzed, son of a glitch...”

Sunstreaker swept his blaster left and right as he walked, checking behind each stalactite and stalagmite, cautious of a Decepticon that might be waiting to surprise him, terrified of a youngling that would try to do the same as a prank.

Sideswipe would love this kid.  

That was, if he ever did manage to find his twin.

Shaking his head to knock away the depressing thoughts that had been eating away at his mind as he searched fruitlessly for Sideswipe, he concentrated instead on each step, and searching for any sign of life, either Decepticon or youngling.  Strangely enough, the arrival of Hot Rod in his life had temporarily soothed the terror that he would be offlined before he found his twin again.  It was illogical; if anything the youngling would cause his premature death if he kept doing things like _wandering away inside of a Decepticon base._

His blaster whined with a power surge as he twisted it towards a noise.  A bit of dirt had tumbled down from the edge of a stalactite and to the floor, bouncing around several more stalagmites.

Hot Rod had been right.  It did look like the serrated teeth of a jaw, a creature swallowing him down into darkness...

“Why can't he be a normal youngling?” Sunstreaker muttered to himself as he continued on.  “Younglings are supposed to like energon goodies, and naps, and those dumb songs that rot a cortex.  This kid's got a thing with monsters and death...”

Another noise stopped him in his tracks.

Voices.

He shut his lights off, and dove to the side, hiding in a small enclave against the wall.  The voices stayed at the same tone and rhythm; he hadn't been spotted.

Further down the tunnel came a glow, growing bright and brighter, until he could make out shadows walking along inside of it.

He couldn't make out what the Decepticons were saying, but their tones were easy and light.  Mostly.  One growled at the others, hissing, putting them on edge, making all of them quicken their pace for the larger creature.

An Insecticon.

Charging up his arm cannon, Sunstreaker pointed it around the corner and calculated the odds of getting a headshot on the creature, and what would happen if he missed, or if there were more Insecticons further down in the mine.  Other mechs, he could handle.  Insecticons?  That would be a problem.  One that he couldn't afford with a wayward youngling running around somewhere.

The mechs and the Insecticon kept walking, and soon enough Sunstreaker was left in darkness, save for his arm cannon and the faint glow of his blue optics.  He dialed down this as well, letting his sensors adjust until he could make out the general outline of the walls and any obstacles in his path.  It was barely a step above being blind, yet it was all he could afford for himself right now.

His top priority wasn't to fight, as much as he itched for it.

His feet rolled-stepped across the dirt, moving nearly silently, his pace frustrating slow.  Mirage had taught him a few tricks for staying unnoticed for as long as possible, though Sunstreaker hadn't used those lessons often, preferring the tactic that he was built for: rushing in and ripping apart the enemy.  But if he started now, then Hot Rod would be purged out of whatever hole he was hiding in when the alarm was sounded, or worse, drawn towards the fight.

The line of thought to purposely start a fight to draw the youngling back to him died with a grumble.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The main cavern yawned open into a space large enough that a gestalt could crawl in and crouch uncomfortably.  Spotlight stands illuminated the center of the room fiercely, where energon cubes were stacked on a pallet at the end of a set of tracks, ready to be carried up to the surface.  A second set of tracks continued down into planet, past the layered, ebony walls, and to a stem of pinkish-purple energon crystals, which Sunstreaker could barely make out from where he crouched behind a boulder.  More cubes were stacked in various parts of the chamber, a worker drone adding to the collection every so often.

There was enough energon in this chamber alone to supply a Decepticon contingent for at least a vorn.  One would think that there would be a stronger security force guarding a mine like this, but Sunstreaker had only seen six mechs, plus a dozen worker drones.  Then again, the single Insecticon was threat enough to any potential thieves, utterly devoted to its master and happily willing to tear apart not only intruders, but any mech who stepped out of line.

And he still had not found Hot Rod.  On the other hand, the Decepticons had given no indication that they'd become aware of either the Autobot or the youngling yet either.

Footsteps crunched on the ground nearby, and Sunstreaker held in a surprised hiss as he crouched down further behind the boulder.  The Decepticon took no notice of the blue optics glaring at him as he strolled by, checking his weapon as he walked.  He'd started towards the tunnel that Sunstreaker had come from, before halting at the buzz of machinery and a squeak of wheels.

“What the frag?”

One of the pallets was on the move.  It propelled itself and the energon cubes it was carrying by an automated pulley, up the track, towards the mine entrance. All of the mechs had stopped their patrol to stare at it, bemused, while the worker drones continued on their programmed tasks, not sensing anything extraordinary.

A small figure darted out from behind the tracks' control panel and dove behind a stack of glowing cubes before anyone but Sunstreaker could think to check why the pallets had activated themselves.  The Decepticon closest to the Autobot strode back towards the tracks, his head cocked to the side, lost in thought until a yellow arm snacked around his midriff and pulled him behind the boulder.

It took less than a couple of seconds, barely heard as more than a scuffle, and when he was done Sunstreaker shook off the energon on his knife and pushed the offline shell further behind him as he peeked out again.  Hot Rod was still hidden, and no one was moving towards his hiding spot, but the Decepticons were on alert, some shouting up to the mine entrance as they tried to determine if someone on the surface had started the tracks, others re-checking their patrol routes nervously.

The Autobot waited until shouts had broken out on the main tunnel, the mechs guarding the entrance accusing the others of incompetence, and the rest of them turning to watch in amusement, before he dashed out, running behind whatever cover he could find not in range of the spotlights as he beelined for the youngling.  The warrior mech was shockingly quiet as he ran, scrambling behind equipment and rocks in case a Decepticon happened to look behind them.  Hot Rod was unaware of the mech sprinting towards him until Sunstreaker was a short distance away, and when he finally did turn towards Sunstreaker with wide optics, he barely had time to let out a frightened squeak before the Autobot barreled into him, tucking him against his chestplate as he rolled behind a support beam, far more suitable cover than a stack of potential explosives.

Sunstreaker held Hot Rod tightly as he crouched down, audial sensors raised high and listening for any indication that they'd been seen.  There were still elevated, confused shouts, but that could still be the argument at the entrance as much as bewilderment for a golden mech and youngling suddenly in their ranks.  Hot Rod tried to squirm, uncomfortable, then winced as Sunstreaker squeezed him a little tighter, silently ordering him to be quiet and still.  The youngling jerked one more time rebelliously, settled down, then considered the mech before moving slowly to rest the side of his helm on the Autobot's chest.

Sunstreaker grimaced.  What an odd time for a youngling to be gesturing for comfort.

The rumbling of the pallets stopped, and the voices died down, ending with a laugh after one mech swore at another. A few moments later the patrols had resumed again, along with chatter as the Decepticon guards joked about faulty machinery.

“The Pit did you do that for?!” Sunstreaker finally hissed down at Hot Rod, releasing his grip on him slightly.  “They're on to us now!”

Hot Rod turned his helm up to glare at the mech's optics.  “It's called getting the energon ahead of us and back to the ship.  You think we could get that to the surface during a fight?”

“I can get it moved afterwards.”  He pushed Hot Rod's helm slightly to inspect the scratches on his chestplate, ignoring the youngling's short protest.  “Great.”

“So then what's your plan?”

“My plan? Same as before.  Tear holes in the Decepticons until there's nothing to stop us from taking the energon.”

“Okay, so I--”

“And you're going to be sniping from behind cover.”

Hot Rod's engine revved irritably.  His fans were still going to clear the dust too.  It was a wonder that they hadn't been heard yet.  “They're all mid-range, so if I go full auto and get closer--”

“You'll be seen and ripped apart by the Insecticon.”

“Was that the huge--”

“Yeah.”

“So how will you--”

“Tear holes in it.  That thing's exoskelton can take a few blasts before it even tickles.”

“But if we--”

“Stop talking already!”

Sunstreaker's final growl was followed with a rattling of the support beam at his back.  Both the Autobot and the youngling froze, their optics widening at each other.

“Oh...frag.”

Slowly, as if it wouldn't notice them if they were cautious, they turned their faces up to the top of the beam.  The Insecticon peered at them from where it clung to the top of the support, it's claws digging into the structure, inspecting them curiously, then hissed, then roared, startling the Decepticons as it leapt down towards the two intruders.

_“MOVE!”_

Sunstreaker's cry was reinforced by him shoving Hot Rod along, sending him stumbling and scrambling as the youngling ran behind a stalagmite.  The ground behind them exploded under the Insecticon's weight.  Gears whirled and shifted as Sunstreaker ran through his transformation, wheels hitting the ground after his last footstep, purposely revving and kicking up dirt into the Insecticon's face in an attempt to get it to follow him as he shot out onto the cave floor, shocking the guards as a yellow vehicle suddenly appeared under the spotlights.

It had worked; the Insecticon was charging after him.  The problem? The Insecticon was charging after him. A howled war cry echoed throughout the cave as it stampeded a short distance behind his bumper.

The Decepticons finally leveled their blasters, shock giving way to rage as they realized that an Autobot had snuck in.  Sunstreaker headed right for them.

“Coming through!”

A mech went flying over his hood as he slammed into it with a crash of metal and rushed on.  The Decepticon's scream was abruptly cut off as he bounced into the Insecticon, who swiped him aside with its claw.  The other guards were mowed down, one caught under the Insecticon's, feet, trampled and crushed, the other two tossed to the side and left to scramble out of the way, and a fourth managed to jump clear.  The last two of the six guards were closer to the entrance, and ran down the track to help their comrades, shouting insults at both the Autobot and Insecticon as they fired at them.

One of them jerked and went flying to his left, carried by the momentum of a shot to the side of his helm.  The other one turned to face this new threat, and dodged Hot Rod's next shot.  The youngling backed behind the stalagmite to avoid the retaliating fire, then crouched further with a wince as blasts erupted on the other side of the rock, another Decepticon aware of the second intruder.

“There's two of them! Get hi—DOOF!”

“ 'Scuse me, pardon me.”  Sunstreaker's undercarriage rattled as he ran over the mech, and the Insecticon helpfully assisting by crushing him further.  It was quickly gaining on the Autobot, and with Sunstreaker having to swerve to dodge Decepticon blaster fire, he wouldn't be able to outrun it for much longer.  Instead he spun around on his wheels and turned around, zooming past the Insecticon, whose momentum would be harder to correct, and headed towards the two mechs still shooting at him, one blue and one green.

He transformed again, flipping and skidding, letting his momentum carry him forward as he tackled the closest Decepticon, the one with the ugly neon green paint job.  The two of them fell and rolled, grappling with each other, punching and kicking as the blue Decepticon stopped shooting, not wanting to accidentally hit his comrade.  He kept his gun leveled though, and it wouldn't be long before he found an opening.  Sunstreaker kept an eye on him as he fought for control, the two mechs grabbing each other's arms as they tried to get on top of one another.  

“Could use some help over here, kid!”

“I'm trying!” Hot Rod shouted back, then ducked as the top of the stalagmite broke off and nearly hit him.  The guard keeping him pinned was advancing, firing continuously at the stalagmite and breaking chunks of it off.  As he passed by a stack of energon cubes, Hot Rod risked a couple of blind, wild shots.  Both of them went wide, but one of them struck the energon cubes.

Heat and energy erupted out into the cave, and the Decepticon screeched as the explosion lifted him off of his feet and sent him sailing into the wall.  The remains of the stalagmite saved Hot Rod from most of the blast, and he peered out at the crater left where the cubes had just stood, shocked by what he'd just done.

The explosion had also distracted the two remaining guards long enough for Sunstreaker to headbutt the green one he was fighting, crashing their helms together and making him let go of the Autobot with a short howl of surprise.  Sunstreaker released him as well, and raced off, hearing the Insecticon roar and charge again, the creature not phased at all by the explosion or the threatening rumble of the cave walls.

The patter of many light feet added to the commotion.  Explosions and supports groaning were definitely not normal, and the drones were running for their designated shelters.

Now that the his comrade was free, the blue Decepticon was shooting at Sunstreaker, and the one he'd just headbutted was crawling towards his gun.  Sunstreaker leapt to the side to dodge the next shot, then snarled as his own arm transformed into a blaster.  His shot hit the guard square in the chest, and as he stumbled back, the Autobot grabbed him and swung him around.

“Free shield!”

The guard didn't get time to struggle before he was hit by the oncoming fire of the green Decepticon.  Both looked at each other, horrified, as the one in Sunstreaker's hands went limp.  The other screamed in rage.

“Autobot! You'll pay for--”

He was cut off as the Insecticon trampled over him, too eager to get to Sunstreaker to care.

“Or not!” Sunstreaker called back to him, dropping the dead mech as he turned and transformed again, zooming away as the Insecticon growled and chased him.  There was a distinct lack of gunfire now, at least on his end of the cave.  His sensors caught sight of Hot Rod hurrying out from behind the ruined stalagmite, his rifle trailed on the Insecticon.  Several shots found their mark, but the beast ignored them and plowed on, scuff marks on his armor the only evidence of Hot Rod's good aim.

As he approached one of the walls, an idea occurred to the Autobot, one that he'd seen Mirage use before in a fight.  He headed right at the wall, the Insecticon still following, then, just before he would have crashed, he transformed and leapt up, flying feet-first at the wall.  The rocks shattered at his impact, unearthing the glowing energon vein underneath, and pain laced up the struts of his legs, but he ignored this and rebounded towards the charging Insecticon.  His knife flashed out, and with a shout he slashed at the Insecticon's face.

The knife nearly fell out of his hands as it barely cut through the forged plating.  Instead the Insecticon lashed out, roaring triumphantly as its slash connected with its airborne prey.  Sunstreaker felt himself change direction, arms flailing in a desperate attempt to catch himself, his chestplate on fire, a deeper part of his spark briefly awed at how easily the Insecticon had torn right through his armor.

He came down hard on his shoulder, the servos dragged along the cave floor and causing him to briefly lose all sensation in his arm, though the rest of his body reminded him that everything else hurt.  He rolled to a stop, groaning, a multitude of warnings flashing across his HUD.  Transforming again wasn't possible.

He doubted he could outrun the Insecticon on foot for more than a few paces.

The floor underneath him kept shaking, even though he'd already landed.  Refocusing his optics, Sunstreaker looked up, and glared coldly at the Insecticon hovering over him, snarling as it raised it's claw for a fatal blow.

It occurred to him that Sideswipe would never know what had happened to him.

But before he could bemoan that fact, hot energy washed over him and the Insecticon, sending it crashing into a support beam with a screech of pain, snapping the support.  The same explosion sent a fresh wave of pain over Sunstreaker's frame as he tumbled across the ground, coming to a rest closer to Hot Rod, who kept his rifle aimed towards the blacked remains of the energon deposit in the wall.

“You okay?!”

“...Peachy.”  Sunstreaker groaned as he got to his knees, pushing up with one arm, the other coming back online a second later with a fresh batch of warnings on his HUD.  Not far away, the Insecticon was doing the same, shaking the debris from the support beam off as it looked left and right, trying to find its prey.

The ground was still shaking.  An alarm sounded from somewhere deeper in the mine, and one of the stalactites broke free and crashed down to the floor, exploding and sending ebony rocks flying everywhere.

“Okay.  We're done here.”  Bringing out his blaster again, Sunstreaker wrapped his other arm around Hot Rod's waist, lifting him up to carry him sideways.  “Shoot at any energon you can see!”

“But--!”

“Don't argue, just do it!”  With that, the Autobot started sprinting up the track leading to the entrance, his blaster firing behind him at the stacks of energon cubes.  Hot Rod eventually followed his lead, shooting at an odd angle at the energon deposits in the walls.

Another support snapped, and cave moaned.

Explosions sounded behind them, followed by an ominous rumbling, and an angry roar from the Insecticon. Sunstreaker kept running, eventually turning his attention away from the collapsing mine and focusing instead on gripping the youngling and sprinting as hard as he could.  The spotlights of the cave flashed out as something hit them, and they were blinded momentarily, heading towards a beam of hazy, orange light at the entrance.

Something cracked on the ceiling above them.  A couple of stalactites came down, like a pair of giant teeth trying to keep them in its mouth.  Sunstreaker ignored the frightened cry from Hot Rod as he dove out of their way, rolling, coming up in a cloud of dust stirred by the collapsing walls.  The Insecticon roared again, closer now, then was suddenly cut off by another crash.

The way out was harder to see with the building dust.  Hot Rod's fans whirled frantically, trying to keep the youngling from chocking, and the Autobot ran on with him under one arm, rushing towards the dying light.  Smaller rocks struck him in the back, threatening to cause him to stumble and fall, and then they would be crushed, trapped underground...

Sunstreaker threw himself at the entrance, and landed heavily on his side, Hot Rod clutched to his front.  Another wave of dust washed over them, then was lifted away by the stirring wind all around them.  The storm was nearly upon them, but they were outside, out on the steel landing pad, with the pallets of energon that rattled as the ground below them heaved.  For a terrifying moment it seemed that the landing pad would collapse into the earth, but the metal groaned and held itself together, being reinforced to hold the weight of several spacecraft.

The Autobot and youngling lay there a while, vents heaving, staring back beyond their feet at the ruined mine entrance.  A growl, like the Insecticon's but not quite, bellowed up from the cave, and then one more rock came down behind the entrance.

“I think it's mad.”

“What?” Sunstreaker turned his optics on Hot Rod.  

“That it didn't get to eat us.”

“It's not mad.  It's dead.”  Sunstreaker grunted as he heaved himself up, then pulled Hot Rod to his feet as well.  “Not even an Insecticon can take an entire cave coming down on it.”

“Not that. The planet's mad.”

The Autobot stared at him a moment, his jaw sliding open as he interpreted what the youngling had meant, and how serious his tone had been.  He attempted to say something, then stopped himself, and shook his head before grasping Hot Rod's forearm.

“C'mon.  Help me tow the pallets back to the ship.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sunstreaker clicked, making a sound like a 'tsk', as he bent over the table.  “I knew it.  And all the dust and dirt got into tear too.”

Hot Rod grimaced and tried to hold still as the Autobot cleaned and repaired the weld.  They had just finished getting the energon on board and taken off from the planet when Hot Rod had collapsed.  The dust covering both of them had hidden the tear on the previous weld and the energon oozing out beneath.  That, and the energy spent keeping his fans on for so long had worn him out.  He'd woken up on the med table as Sunstreaker was cleaning him off, looking for the source of the leak.

“...You didn't even clean yourself off yet?”

Sunstreaker scowled.  “What an astute observation.”  He kept his optics on the weld, though, carefully re-soldering it, until the youngling was no longer in danger of energon loss.  “This would have been easier, and safer, if you'd just gone back to the ship like I told you.”

Hot Rod shrugged.  “And be bored out of my spark?”

“Hot Rod.  I'm trying to get back to my brother.  And all you're doing is trying to get me killed before I can find him.”

The youngling's retort died.  He stared up at the Autobot, shocked, but Sunstreaker made no attempt to apologize as he finished with the repair and wiped a cloth around it, making sure that no granules could re-tear it easily.  “...I'm just trying to help,” he muttered.

“Well, don't.”

The cloth was pressed into his hands.

“Finish cleaning yourself.”

With that, Sunstreaker turned on his heel and headed out, walking briskly away and towards the shower racks at the rear of the ship, ignoring the hurt optics following him.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

None of the star clusters were ones that he'd seen before.  He had only the ship's computer to go by, and if that failed, then he'd be lost again.  Lost with a commandeered cargo ship, yes, but drifting across the galaxy once again.  For all he knew he was moving further from his brother, not closer.  

Sunstreaker gripped the cube tighter in one hand, the other bracing himself on the window as he stared out at the stars gliding by.  The ship's guidance systems were taking it to the closest trading post, which the logs had indicated to be Neutral.  The Autobot could sell off some of the extra energon for other supplies, and maybe gather more leads for his brother.

That was, if the youngling kept out of sight.  He scowled into his reflection in the energon.  It would be like Hot Rod to wander off, kick-starting a rumor of his existence, and soon enough he'd have every Decepticon and bounty hunter in the star system hunting him down.  Sunstreaker was having enough problems gathering intel with an Autobot insignia on his chestplate.  Fending off hunters looking for one of the few remaining Cybertronian younglings would slow his search to a crawl.

“Hey.”

Sunstreaker startled, then looked over his shoulder to the youngling approaching him.  “Hey.”

Hot Rod kept his distance, his fists balled up at his sides, and he took a second to gather himself before speaking.  “I just wanted to say...”

“Yes?”

“That you're a piece of slag.”

Sunstreaker raised an eye ridge.  “...Go on.”

“It's not my fault that you're worried about getting back to the Autobots.  I've been helping you since we first met, and you're always acting like I'm slowing you down.”

“Hmm.  Have you considered that maybe you are?”

“I'm a kid!” Hot Rod pointed at himself.  “I'm doing my best!”

“...Yeah.  Yeah, you are.”

The youngling had been ready to argue further, but stopped as Sunstreaker vented a sigh of resignation and shook his head, unwilling to fight his point.  Hot Rod cocked his head to the side uncertainly, then took a step closer to him.

“Then will you back off and let me help you?”

“Sometimes.”

“Why not all the time?”

“Because neither of us are invincible, and soon enough, you're going to do something that will get us both killed.  I know what I'm doing.  You don't.  You need to listen to me.”

“I'm a kid, remember?”

“Tell the enemy that you're a youngling.  See what happens.”

“...I wish I wasn't.”

“Me too.”

The two of them stood there a while, as if they could make Hot Rod suddenly grow past his younglinghood by sheer willpower, or rather, together they acknowledged that this is what each other wanted. If only he'd been a capable warrior, if only he'd been older, if only he wasn't so weak...that would solve many of their problems.

Eventually Sunstreaker held up his cube and offered it.  A proper refuel would do leagues more strengthening him for upgrades than the youngling's habit of processing energy from sunlight would. Pacing over, Hot Rod took it with a nod and stood at his side, staring out the window at the stars.

“When we get to the next trading post, I need you to stay onboard the ship.  Okay?”

“Okay.”

Sunstreaker narrowed his optics as the youngling took a sip of energon.  “I mean it.  If you're seen, then we'll have more enemies to deal with.”  

“...I won't let you down again.”

“Again?”  Hot Rod didn't answer him, even as Sunstreaker stared at him, and eventually the Autobot changed his tone.  “How about this?  You stay onboard, and I'll bring you back something when I'm done.”

That brought a happy light back into Hot Rod's optics.  “Deal.”

Sunstreaker smirked.  Sideswipe would love this kid.

The stars continued to glide on past, deceptively serene as the ship passed by them towards its destination.  Sunstreaker leaned on the window again, his thoughts drifting back to his brother, wondering briefly if there was a chance that one of the stars had a planet on which his twin was orbiting.  They could be passing within a lightyear of each other.  Yet his spark told him nothing, other than that Sideswipe was still alive, somewhere.

Something else tugged at it briefly.

He looked down, now realizing that Hot Rod had pressed the side of his helm to his chestplate.  Hesitantly, he put a hand down on the youngling's shoulder, letting him rest against him as they gazed out the window.  A moment later, his servos eased, despite his worry for his twin, as his older spark warmed in his chest and helped to soothe a younger's.  A smile briefly lit up Hot Rod's face, reflected in the window in front of him, and suddenly, Sideswipe didn't seem that far away anymore.


End file.
